A/N: Back again! The company where I do my internship is closed down for half of this week, so I had a bit of extra time. :)

Oh, and if some of the words in italics are smooshed together or messed up, sorry! For some reason FF keeps smooshing together all the italics writing on me. I have to manually edit it every time I upload a chapter! I think I caught it all, but if I didn't, sorry! Just thought you should know. :)

Enjoy and review, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

Chapter 3: Day 12

Sam rolled over and groaned, stirring when he felt his bed shaking. His eyes fluttered open, and the vision that met his eyes made him do a double-take. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, sure he couldn't be seeing what he thought was right before him. Hesitantly, he opened them again. Nope, his mind must not be playing tricks on him.

Andy McNally was still standing a few inches away from his bed, grinning down at him, dressed in nothing but her underwear and one of his old tee-shirts. "Move over," she said sleepily, nudging his arm that was hanging off the side of the bed as she rubbed her right eye. As if she'd been sleeping next to him all night, and he was the weird one for looking at her like he had no clue how she'd ended up in his apartment.

He may have been still half asleep, but he could have sworn when he went to bed that Andy was nowhere near his house. How had she gotten here? And where had she gotten his tee shirt?

Still frowning to himself, he scooted over to the other side of the bed, letting her slip in next to him. As soon as she did, she snuggled into his side, nestling her face into his shoulder and wrapping her arm around him. "Hi," she whispered, snuggling closer, pushing up a little to kiss his jaw affectionately. A second later, she had settled back at his side, hugging him close as she relaxed, her breathing even and soft.

He glanced over at her to find that her eyes had already drooped shut, and he reached over, shaking her shoulder. "Andy—And… not that I don't love it that you're here, but why are you here? C'mon, I am not going to be the one who is responsible for getting you knocked off the force. Best is going to have my hide…"

Andy pushed up onto one of her elbows and captured his lips in a kiss, effectively ending his sleepy tirade. When she pulled away, she grinned at him mischievously. "Just… shhh. I thought I was the one that always did the rambling."

He smirked at that.

She reached her hand up and traced the pattern of his stubble from the day before, grinning softly as she watched him, before she said, "It's six o'clock in the morning. I missed you like crazy. And those letters and YouTUBE videos were torture. Don't make me stay away from you anymore. Please."

When he didn't say anything, she offered him a gentle smile and settled next to him again, snuggling into his side and burying her face in his neck.

He slowly let himself relax, pulling Andy closer as sweet sleep called to him. After weeks—scratch that, years—of wanting this, he couldn't imagine anything more wonderful than holding Andy close. Gah, he loved her. This was perfect.

He had almost drifted back asleep when Andy shifted in his arms, clearing her throat. She reached up and began to trace random patterns in his jaw. What was she doing?

Sam cleared his throat and swallowed, not bothering to open his eyes. "What are you doing, McNally?"

She giggled to herself and pushed herself up on her elbow, kissing him softly. "I have a secret."

"Okay…"

"I want to tell you."

Apparently Andy McNally was incredibly loopy at 6:15 in the morning. "What is it, McNally? I was kind of hoping to get some sleep here…"

She grinned and kissed his jaw softly. "I love you," she said softly, completely confident. "Like, a lot. Completely over the moon. I just figured you should know that."

His eyes suddenly flew open, and he stared down at her, taking in every detail on her face. Her eyes shone back at him, soft and full of so much love it took his breath away. She was grinning at him softly, hopefully, and he leaned down, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. He just couldn't stay away any longer. She was so perfect, and wrapped up in his arms, and gah, she was the most adorable kisser ever. Part demure, part fire, all hope and joy and sweetness and love. He could kiss her forever.

When he pulled back, his eyes were shining just as brightly as hers were, and he stroked her cheek gently, as if he had to prove to himself that she really was there, and that she had really just said those three beautiful words to him.

Tears filled his eyes against his wishes, and he pressed another fervent kiss to her lips. "I love you, too. Babe, you don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say those words."

She grinned softly at him and nodded, her eyes glowing. "Yeah, yeah, I do…" Her eyes twinkled up at him, and she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Tell me again."

"What?" he asked, his eyes teasing. "That I love you?"

She grinned back at him, nodding. "Yeah. That."

His eyes twinkled with promise. "Why should I tell you when I can show you?" he asked, kissing her passionately and flipping her underneath him in one deft move.

A loud siren sounded just outside Sam's window, and he jolted awake. He desperately felt the space in his bed around him. When he didn't find her, he opened his eyes. He wanted to cry. Andy was gone.

A deep dread filled him. She couldn't be gone. It had all been so real. But it had all been a dream, and he physically ached—ached for her. How was it possible that something so sweet and good and perfect could be kept just out of reach, all the time?

He groaned and rubbed his face, slipping out of his bed and heading toward the kitchen. As he waited for his coffee to brew, he pealed a banana and started to eat it as he leaned against the counter. Another day on suspension. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle. At least he had poker night with Oliver and Jerry tonight.

Andy had promised a surprise was coming, but it had been three whole days since she'd posted that video, promising that his surprise was coming, and he still hadn't seen anything. Had he missed it? Had she forgotten? Chickened out?

This suspension was killing him. If he had to spend another second without her, he thought he was going to go crazy.

He pushed off from the counter and ambled toward the front door. It was nearly 10 o'clock—maybe the mailman had come. He usually didn't put much stock in anything the mailman brought, but he needed something—anything—to do to get his mind off of Andy, and how perfectly she belonged in his bed.

He grabbed his coat, hanging in the closet, before stepping outside. Usually he wouldn't bother, but the wind had been shaking the house the whole night, and he was only wearing a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt.

Sam stepped outside and stopped short when he saw pink and purple chalk covering his whole sidewalk. He groaned and was about to mutter some select words under his breath until he recognized the handwriting. That was… Andy's handwriting. He'd recognize it anywhere.

Dear Sam,

Miss you. Wish I could come inside and tell you how I feel instead of writing it with sidewalk chalk. I'm counting down the days!

Love,

Andy xoxo

So this plan was officially the worst type of torture ever.

He smiled softly to himself when he saw the dozens of little pink and purple hearts that surrounded her message. It was just the type of thing Andy would do.

He was about to sidestep her message and continue to the mailbox to retrieve his mail when he noticed a white envelope discarded on the ground. He bent down to pick it up and flipped it over, smiling again when he saw his name written in her elegant, flowy script.

Forgetting about the mailbox, he ripped the envelope open as he wandered back up his front steps and back into his house. He let himself back in the front door as he pulled the two pages of writing out of the envelope.

Dear Sam,

Hi. Miss you. Can't wait to see you. And my goodness, I hate this suspension. :*(

So this plan is probably really lame next to whatever is brewing in your mind, but I liked it. And I couldn't do nothing. Leo let me borrow his chalk, by the way. He says it's okay as long as you buy him an AWESOME birthday present (his words, not mine!) since you had to miss his birthday party.

Please tell me you're not going to be gushing about Judge Judy when we get back. If I have to listen to that crap for hours on end, I think I'll strangle you. :) But seriously, don't you have anything better to watch? Even Bugs Bunny is better than Judge Judy! Don't you have any movies? Scratch that. I don't want you coming back and gushing about the Transformers, either.

So the sun's setting while I'm writing this. When our suspension's over, will you watch the sun set with me?

This suspension is just showing me all the things I want to do with you. Watching the sunset, waking up in your arms, every morning, watching movies with you, watching fireworks together on New Years' Day, going ice skating with you, baking cookies with you (okay, you would not be allowed to throw flour in my face. You are forewarned), going camping with you (yeah, cityboy…), babysitting Leo together, having a picnic together in the summer, racing you on the swings. (Yeah, old man. Don't act like you're too cool for the swings…) And really, Sam, I'd even give up all that—my vision and dreams of normal—if I could just see you again, if I could kiss you whenever I wanted, if I could hide in your arms just because.

What have you been up to lately? Baby, you better not just be sitting around, like a depressed bump on a log, just watching Judge Judy. One of these days, I'll have Leo come check on you and report. He's my buddy—he'll tell it to me straight even if you won't. :)

Ohhhhhh, you'll never guess what I did today! Okay, well, it wasn't really something I did. I borrowed Traci's car to go pick up this book I've been wanting to read, and I was filling up her tank when this troupe of clowns came cartwheeling out of the mini mart! It was the funniest thing. They picked up this lady while she was waiting for her gas tank to be filled. She was screaming all the way across the parking lot, and they kept twirling her around and doing tricks with her… Sam, you would have loved it, haha. They even hid this guy's motorcycle when he went inside the store to pick up some cigarettes. That man was so mad!

I hate this, you know. Trying to talk to you like I would talk to you in person. It's so hard. :*(

T minus 16 days until I can see you again! If we ever decide to do something stupid like this again, you better stop me. I don't think I could ever deal with this separation again. :*(

Love,

Andy xoxoxoxo

Sam sighed. Having a swing race with Andy actually sounded perfect. She made him feel alive again. Not that he'd ever been not alive, but everything always seemed a million times better with Andy McNally in it.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what he was going to do with her once they were allowed to see each other. He poured himself a cup of coffee and quickly made himself some toast and scrambled eggs. If this was going to work, he had a lot of planning to do.

A/N: Dum, dum, dummm! :)

More to come, hopefully soon. :) Review, please!